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Monday, March 28, 2011

NIM - I'm Floored by These Curves

With all the technology available to the building industry, I find it surprising that most of it is being used to create straight lines. Computer technology excels in the area of optimization … getting the best yield out of a finite amount of raw material. Cutting many different sized parts out of a single 4’ x 8’ sheet of material is a classic example. But it’s not as if straight lines and clean finishes are difficult to begin with.

The brain trust at Bolefloor had the same idea, and decided to apply their optimization programmes to naturally curved floorboards. This is not a new idea. Master woodworkers have been doing this sort of flooring for years; examining the natural curves in each piece of wood and fitting each piece into a naturally flowing floor. What Bolefloor has done is automate the process making it more accessible to those of us without a master woodworker at hand.

Bolefloor scanners’ natural-edge visual identification technology evaluates “imperfections” such as knots and sapwood near the edges or ends so that floors are both beautiful and durable.

Our process manages and tracks each board from its raw-lumber stage through final installation. And every board is cut using the finest in Homag woodworking machinery.

The resulting floors are breathtaking; very natural and definitely unique.

As of the published date of this post there are still a number of details to be sorted out. The only wood available is oak, although the boards are available in grooved and un-grooved. Finishes are Danish oils but Bolefloor is also available unfinished. The list of distributors is expected to be available in April 2011 but for more information you can contact them directly (contact information is on their web site.)